But a nine-goal weekend outburst leading to a couple of wins and four meaningless points in February isn’t going to change the chilly reality: This is a poor team, locked in a difficult season, and an organization that has been a revolving door since the last Stanley Cup — which came 25 years ago this spring.

It’s fine the kiddies went home laughing. It’s even okay for fans to babble about a miraculous late-season run leading to a playoff spot. The club’s leadership, beginning with Geoff Molson, has to take a more hard-edged view of reality.

Here, for instance, is a slice of reality for you: Tomas Plekanec, who scored the last goal of Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Senators, was also the last Canadiens centreman to put up really fine offensive seasons, unless you count Alex Galchenyuk’s late-season explosion two seasons ago, a feat he has been unable to duplicate.

Somehow, the Canadiens have to come out of the carnage of this season with a quality centre to fill that hole in the donut on the top line — and, somehow, they need to close the charisma gap. Since 2003, they have operated on Bob Gainey’s cautious blueprint: build from the goaltender out.

The result? Two appearances in an Eastern Conference final and a quarter-century without a parade. That was not the goal when Gainey took over and began his career by drafting Andrei Kostitsyn with the 10th pick overall, while Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Brent Seabrook, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Brent Burns, Ryan Kesler and Corey Perry were still on the table in the first round alone, then taking Cory Urquhart with Patrice Bergeron and Shea Weber still out there.

Had Gainey nabbed Getzlaf and Bergeron, say, the Canadiens would have locked up the centre ice position for at least 15 years and, quite possibly, held at least one more Stanley Cup parade. But he didn’t — and here we are, a couple of seasons away from 2020, with the once mighty Canadiens still in search of a bona fide offensive centreman and an offence.

The result is predictable. The fans are frustrated, the team is dreadful and this season has been both dull and dismal, a fatal combination. If you’re going to stink, at least stink in an entertaining fashion.

Maybe it’s time to ditch that Gainey blueprint and to find that missing hole in the donut at last. (Pete Mahovlich likes to joke about how he was once the hole in the donut between Steve Shutt and Guy Lafleur — but, my, would a young Mahovlich look good in the uniform today.)

GM Marc Bergevin takes a lot of unfair raps from the hate brigade. This criticism is not unfair: with a yawning chasm at centre ice going back to Saku Koivu’s prime, Bergevin surrendered two of his prime bargaining chips without addressing the problem. P.K. Subban went for Weber, another defenceman, while Mikhail Sergachev was dealt for Jonathan Drouin and the problem remains. The Canadiens lost a whole lot of sizzle without filling their most critical void.

Bergevin has bargaining chips to play with. Everyone talks about Max Pacioretty, but there are a number of veteran players who could fill in well for a team looking to make a serious playoff run.

The point is not that the Canadiens should necessarily trade Pacioretty or anyone else on the roster — it’s that when you’re this bad, you have to examine all options. Depending what’s on offer, Bergevin should have no untouchables: I would be reluctant to part with any of the young talent this club has — but the only thing that matters now is putting together a viable contender for the future. And when you’ve been doing the same old thing for 15 years without success, maybe (just maybe) it’s time to think outside the box.

The entire organization needs to reset, restructure and rethink. There is young talent up front on the roster: Drouin, Lehkonen, Victor Mete, Galchenyuk, Nikita Scherbak. Without the high-end centremen to make it all go, it isn’t going to happen — and with such a long-term issue, the risk is that you’ll make a bad deal in an attempt to address it.

But address it you must. New names pop up almost daily, from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisatl of the centre-rich Edmonton Oilers to St. Louis Blues prospect Robert Thomas.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.